Contemporary Rootsy Americana-y Type Stuff

[BFrank]

They're Canadian, and tend toward the poppish side of country, but Blue Rodeo are good, and I've heard some good things about The Sadies too.

I love the Sadies but they don't fit in the mold of what Bev is looking for. They have more of a rock attitude

Think of it Neko Case could be your thing, Eleni Mandell could be another one to explore

I think the Sadies are a great suggestion. Very much a Byrds-like sound (Clarence White era). They need to be seen live to really appreciate them, though. While their albums are good, you don't get the full effect of the Good brothers until you see them work together on stage.

BTW, the Sadies back up Neko Case on "The Tigers Have Spoken".

[kenny weir]

Time to go back to Fiddlin' John Carson, Kelly Harrell, Clarence Ashley, B.F. Shelton.....

Yes, oh, yes!

A few years back, a colleague came up to me asking if I could secure him a review/promo copy of a Tim Buckley tribute album - you know the sort of thing, contemporary artists doing their interpretations of tunes penned/originally-recorded by one of their seminal influences.

My buddy was/is a big Jeff Buckley fan, so was at least a little interested in checking out Jeff's dad.

I replied something along the lines: "Why bother with that? You can pick up Tim Buckley CDs all over town, mostly at a pretty good price, too!"

He looked at m with a blank stare, as if what I was suggesting was, like, from another planet or something.

I'm sure no more came of it ...

[Tom in RI]

Check out Duke Levine (there are some videos on youtube).

[Van Basten II]

They're Canadian, and tend toward the poppish side of country, but Blue Rodeo are good, and I've heard some good things about The Sadies too.

I love the Sadies but they don't fit in the mold of what Bev is looking for. They have more of a rock attitude

Think of it Neko Case could be your thing, Eleni Mandell could be another one to explore

I think the Sadies are a great suggestion. Very much a Byrds-like sound (Clarence White era). They need to be seen live to really appreciate them, though. While their albums are good, you don't get the full effect of the Good brothers until you see them work together on stage.

BTW, the Sadies back up Neko Case on "The Tigers Have Spoken".

I saw Neko Case backed up by them great memories, for the rest pretty much agreed except that the Byrds comparaisons stop at a certain point because they have a rather wide palette of styles

, so in a way they remind you of a lot of bands.

[AllenLowe]

well, if you insist:

Frank Hutchison

Molly O'Day

Dick Justice

Cliff Carlisle

Kitty Wells

Milt Brown

Elvis.

contemporary enough.

[BFrank]

A little off-topic, but I just picked up the re-mastered version of "Fairport Live Convention" (or is it Fairport Convention "Live"?). I had the original vinyl which was called "A Moveable Feast", but this re-master sounds great. The bonus tracks sound nice, too, but apparently were recorded during the period before Sandy Denny came back to the band.

[zootsi]

for really rootsy, old timey, Apalachian music, check out the Highwoodse String Band.

La Vent Du Nord for authentic French Quebec folk

Duke Robillard for 40's style blues jazz.

[kenny weir]

listening to the Carolina Chocolate Drops right now - not too crazy about them; and historically they don't really add up. The sound is not a reflection of anything pre-war which I've ever heard; it's more folk revival, which is fine, except that they come across as though they're making certain historical references, when in fact they sound pretty typical to me (but of a much later sound; I can't think of one old-time band that uses those kinds of harmonies, or that mixes women and men's voices, except on some Stoneman gospel things) . I think, in a way, they're playing the race thing, since it is very unusual to see an African American band playing this kind of music, and what's really selling them is novelty, since musically they sound like about 50 other bands I've heard.

These days I'm pretty much a cranky old "consider the source" guy, but I'm not sure any of the above means anything 'cept for personal preference.

At some point, guys like the Band have to be acknowledged as part of the tradition or whatever, same for Stringbean. But that sure doesn't mean their many imitators inspire in me anything more than yawns.

Same for my beloved Grateful Dead - utterly American originals! The Jam band Nation they largely inspired? Yech! IMHO.

[JSngry]

Cliff Carlisle

Kitty Wells

How 'bout those roots, eh?

[seeline]

My new faves, the Carolina Chocolate Drops, with their interpretation of Blu Cantrell's "Hit 'Em Up Style":

@ Allen L: I guess you haven't heard of the Black Banjo Gathering? The members of the Chocolate Drops could school you on their antecedents, and that's not hyperbole. They know a lot. (History, repertoire, the whole deal.) And they've all studied with one of the only living black fiddlers from the Piedmont area... They may be, to some extent, "folk revival," but if so, they're nothing like what came from the old folk revival.

Apologies for the video quality here, but the audio is just fine - the piece is "Snowden's Jig (Genuine Negro Jig)" -

See the book Way Up North in Dixie for more info. on the possible origin of this piece, as well as some of the history of the Snowden Family Band.

I think, in a way, they're playing the race thing, since it is very unusual to see an African American band playing this kind of music, and what's really selling them is novelty, since musically they sound like about 50 other bands I've heard.

That strikes me as not only an ungenerous comment ("playing the race thing"), but untrue. As for their attitude toward the music, performance and more, I think you'd be surprised. They really are the last group I'd expect to see "playing the race card." (As for the novelty thing, well - go see them live and see if you think that judgement holds up. )

Edited March 29, 2010 by seeline

[A Lark Ascending]

This request from my original post seems to have been missed: "Please resist the temptation to explain how you only listen to this sort of music from West Tennessee before 1952...lots of other threads for that".

Otherwise we're back to squabbling about Eric Alexander and jazz musicians coming out of colleges today.

I think we all know where we stand in the 'where does authenticity/heart/soul really lie' debate.

***************

Thanks for the contemporary recommendations above. The California Chocolate Drops have really caught my ear of late - one effect is that they'll be sending me back to the Harry Smith box with renewed interest. Neko Case I do know and enjoy.

Just listened to a few clips from The Sadies - like what I heard.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Bev Stapleton

[seeline]

This request from my original post seems to have been missed: "Please resist the temptation to explain how you only listen to this sort of music from West Tennessee before 1952...lots of other threads for that".

[snip]

I think we all know where we stand in the where does 'authenticity/heart/soul really lie' debate.

At the risk of being slightly redundant, I'm happy to hear some fresh, contemporary approaches to American "folk" music. And I don't really care if the musicians performing the material sound like they came from the 1920s - in fact, I'd much rather they didn't!

We're here now, and I think people performing in these styles have every right to blend whatever they see fit in order to create their own music.

[/rant]

Edited March 29, 2010 by seeline

[seeline]

There's also NYC's own Ebony Hillbillies...

Edited March 29, 2010 by seeline

[JSngry]

Blood Ulmer w/Charles Burnham. Odyssey was a hoe-down from start to finish!

It's almost 30 years old, though, so hardly "contemporary", but still...

[Neal Pomea]

From the Cajun and Creole side of life, forget the recent Grammy nominees and recipients for the newly established Zydeco/Cajun category, and try these:

(on Valcour records)

Joel Savoy/Linzay Young (self-titled)

Feu Follet (Cow Island Hop)

Cedric Watson

(on Arhoolie and LionsGate)

Pine Leaf Boys

(on Swallow)

Lost Bayou Ramblers and Mello Joy Boys

Edited March 29, 2010 by It Should be You

[seeline]

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, imo. Nobody has to like any musician or group.

But people might come to differing conclusions regarding source material and history, no? And tastes, too, insofar as that counts for anything. I don't think the Chocolate Drops are aiming for the kind of sound that The Ebony Hillbillies are... and I think that's not only understandable, but just fine - not "fake." They come from very diverse backgrounds and I don't think they've ever presented themselves as intending to play in an "authentic" style (whatever that might be).

Nobody's mentioned Otis Taylor's "Recapturing the Banjo" yet, have they? (fwiw, Taylor also plays mandolin...)

Blood Ulmer w/Charles Burnham. Odyssey was a hoe-down from start to finish!

It's almost 30 years old, though, so hardly "contemporary", but still...

Yep - nice album!

Edited March 29, 2010 by seeline

[A Lark Ascending]

Nobody's mentioned Otis Taylor's "Recapturing the Banjo" yet, have they? (fwiw, Taylor also plays mandolin...)

I used up this month's e-music credits on a bunch of albums in this area and that was one of them. Very impressive.

Have to say I'm amused at the accusation made at revivalists for being 'middle class'. What could be more middle class than rejecting the music of the present in favour of obscure names (relatively speaking) from the past. Classic bourgeois posturing.

Just enjoying this, Seeline:

As you say, no-one has to like it, and if you've immersed yourself in the source material, it probably won't make much of an impression.

But what the source obsessed forget is how people like to hear music played by living musicians in their own time. You can bore them to death about how sublime Glenn Gloud was but they are still going to turn out for Angela Hewitt in their droves.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Bev Stapleton

[seeline]

To add to what Bev said, I'm sure that all of the members of the Chocolate Drops would tell you that they were raised in the "middle class," so... I don't think they're embarrassed about their personal roots; in fact, that's probably a non sequitur for them as far as making music is concerned.

@ Bev: their latest (Genuine Negro Jig) is something you'd really enjoy, I think. (And no, they're not paying me to say nice things about them!)

For me personally, it's what performers like Taylor and the Drops do with the source material - plus whatever else they bring to it (which is quite a lot!) that counts.

Edited March 29, 2010 by seeline

[seeline]

To be honest, I don't see what that has to do with anything, Allen.

So we part ways there, as elsewhere, right?

peace,

s.

[A Lark Ascending]

the middle class do have certain cultural tendencies toward middle-browism and an acceptance of surface

I think that's nonsense, Allen. A classic 'upper class/intellectual' accusation to keep the newly comfortable at a distance. In the same way they used to sneer at their associations with 'trade' in order to keep a distance.

Calm down about the 'insult' - all your posts on this thread are insults levelled at those who get genuine pleasure out of this newer music (and the thread is about recommendations for contemporary music, not what Allen Lowe doesn't like about it...I'm sure you are capable of starting your own thread about that!). You're suggesting we are only interested in the surface (with the implication that you explore the depths).

Poppycock.

I understand your passion for the music of the past and we all benefit from it. But you're trying to turn a personal preference into a universal statement. Whatever your intention, it comes across as arranging history to present yourself as a seer and the rest of us as mere dabblers.

Bev indicated, above, that any preference for the older music over contemporary interpretations could inevitably be regarded as pretentious posturing

Not my point at all.

It's the suggestion that those who do not accept your preferences are somehow only interested in the surface that comes across as posturing.

[seeline]

Allen, I had no intention of insulting you or anyone else, let alone getting into a debate on so-called middle class posturing.

Bev started a thread about contemporary music ("rootsy" stuff) and I responded. I think people who investigate the past can and do come to different conclusions about it (as well as the present) and that's just fine.

Here's my point: I'd much rather go and listen to some well-played music (old or new or something in-between)than argue about its supposed authenticity. The Chocolate Drops are very talented musicians, as is Otis Taylor (and as are all the musicians on his "Recapturing the Banjo" disc), and... somehow, the sheer joy that is produced by their investment in the music outweighs all the other concerns that have been mentioned.

I play music (personally, as a musician) because I love to play it, because it brings me a kind of contentment (and joy, too) that I've found in nothing else. I need to play. The Chocolate Drops seem to be kindred spirits in that respect, so I'm responding in kind.

If the passion and joy isn't there, music is dead. And - since I hear passion and joy and love in the Chocolate Drops' music, and in Taylor's, and in The Ebony Hillbillies' - I'll play it and dance to it and just generally have a good time. I think that's one of the things they have in mind, or at least, that they all hope to bring to those who listen to them.

like I said earlier - peace!

s.

Edited to add: as Bev said above, people want to see and hear (and maybe dance to) live music made by living musicians. I'm definitely in with that crowd.

Edited March 29, 2010 by seeline

[JSngry]

Have to say I'm amused at the accusation made at revivalists for being 'middle class'. What could be more middle class than rejecting the music of the present in favour of obscure names (relatively speaking) from the past. Classic bourgeois posturing.

Possible class angst aside, how does this not prove the point by trying to refute it? I mean, isn't that exactly what the artists in question here are doing in/with their own work?

Me myself, being an American with a semi-rural background and all that, I'm of very mixed emotions about the whole "Americana" etc movement... on the one hand, it's always good to feel connected, but otoh, how connected how far back can you really get on any but a "spiritual" level, that is, at some point you're "connecting" to fill a need to know something you can never know other than by getting it third or fifth or hundredth hand, so what you're connecting to may or may not be anything other than a projection as to what you need the past to be for your own ends, which is all good, that's pretty much how people do with everything, but there's imagining and then there's imagination...

Also ambiguous about what it is that all these urbanrural Americans are trying to "get back" to...don't expect any non-urbanrural Americans to feel that one, but at times it seems kinda like it's like the real world is just too fucked up, so the only way to save yourself is to run away back to the "roots", which would be good except that I don't know any tree that you can save by cutting off all the branches (you can keep a tree healthy - or make a weak one stronger - by prudent pruning, but you can't really save a sick one that way), which I guess is what troubles be (to the extent that I'm troubled) about the notion of "roots music...really what we're looking at is trunks and maybe primary branches...the real "roots" are so long ago and so far away, long before recorded time and/or recorded music that what they really are is anybody's guess...

Into the mystic indeed, if that's how you want to roll it!

(and of course (yaaaaaawnnnnn) this is just my opinionnnnnnnnnnnn

[seeline]

fwiw, I think the "dress it up in racial drag" comment *is* a deliberately provocative, even insulting, comment - though I'm sure that all of the members of the Chocolate Drops have heard that (and much worse) ad nauseam by now.

I don't need to listen to - or read - that kind of thing, though.

Edited March 29, 2010 by seeline

[A Lark Ascending]

that's not what you said. It was: "What could be more middle class than rejecting the music of the present in favour of obscure names (relatively speaking) from the past? lassic bourgeois posturing."

Well, the emphasis was (intended to be) on the 'rejecting the music of the present'. I can understand your lack of interest; it's the universalising of your preference (and, dare I say, your projection onto the past of qualities that are not necessarily inherent, that I disagree with).

Make no mistake, I greatly admire the way you've assembled the music of the past in your compilations (the best compilations of early jazz I've ever heard, without intending to be sycophantic...and I anticipate a similar reaction to the blues sets).

Just completely disagree with you on this point. The music of the past and reinterpretation can live alongside one another (just as Rattle's Mahler can live alongside Walter's). Which doesn't mean anyone needs to enjoy both.

[As a side point, I work in a typically working class school (despite being nouveaux-middle class myself). There is virtually no interest in 'old' music - it's the contemporary that excites the kids I teach. Enjoying music beyond the 'now' was something I learned to do as part of an aspirational, middle class education.)

[seeline]

Just completely disagree with you on this point. The music of the past and reinterpretation can live alongside one another (just as Rattle's Mahler can live alongside Walter's). Which doesn't mean anyone needs to enjoy both.

And Mahler's Mahler, for that matter... or Chopin's students' recordings of his works (Welte-Mignon piano rolls, anyone?) or... the possibilities are endless.